Unsolicited Soc Network Review

The Social Network
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rashida Jones
Directed by David Fincher
2010

The friends you make in college are the ones you hang onto for life, they say—unless you inadvertently create an immensely profitable cultural touchstone with your stupid little drinking buddies, in which case you’ll probably all end up bitter enemies engaged in soul-draining legal battles. This is what David Fincher’s Social Network teaches us; money changes everything. Also, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and true men of Harvard avoid suing each other until they start to lose rowing competitions (file it under “emotional distress”).

Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, an insular code jockey who may or may not have swiped the idea for “the Facebook” (i.e. some bullshit on the computer where you can look at pictures of people you might wanna diddle) from a few less ambitious Ivy Leaguers. Zuckerberg’s partner from the beginning is Eduardo Saverin, who Andrew Garfield portrays as a likable kid saddled with the thankless task of somehow monetizing his friend’s upstart dot com. This sets the stage for Justin Timberlake’s turn as flashy Napster co-founder Sean Parker. Parker sees potential in the pair’s little Facebook thing and throws a load of cash at them. That’s when the real problems start.

Basically just another movie about the emotional / monetary perils of being a goddamn Yuppie, The Social Network works thanks to the finely-tuned performances of the main cast and Fincher’s expectedly great directing. It’s true, there isn’t much resolution in the end—no smoking gun proves any character was right or wrong in their actions—but you’ll probably still find yourself rather engrossed in the business drama of our current decade. And hey, they threw a Gluecifer song in there, too, so you can’t hate on that.

FINAL SCORE: Three and a half coke-snorting Timberlakes (out of four).